An (Un)Familiar Friendship
by Candaru
Summary: While studying spirit channeling in Kurain Village for his work back in Khura'in, Apollo is requested to watch over Pearl Fey while she trains. To his surprise, he and Pearl get along quite well- and have something in common... (Pearl/Apollo, can be taken platonically or romantically. Platonic Apollo/Phoenix & Maya/Pearl. No slash.)
1. An Urgent Request

(A/N: Hello, all! So, right off the bat, I have to clear up the "shipping situation" of this fic. The ships of Maya/Phoenix and Pearl/Apollo are both referenced at least one time by another character as romantic, HOWEVER, whether or not that's actually true is up to the reader. In other words, everything I've written CAN be taken platonically if you so choose. Any ships besides the ones I just mentioned MUST be taken platonically, no exceptions. Thank you for respecting my wishes :3 The only other things I gotta clear up are that this fic takes place months after Home(sick) For the Holidays, although you don't need to read that one to understand this one, and that I DID already finish writing this so don't worry about me dropping off midway. I'm just spacing out posting the chapters. For anyone interested, there will be 8 chapters plus a bonus chapter at the end. :D) (OH one more important thing. I... actually haven't played through every Apollo Justice game; I'm halfway through the first one and I've played all of Spirit of Justice, but nothing from Dual Destinies yet. It's implied in Spirit of Justice that Apollo and Pearl have met before but aren't super close or anything, and that's about all the information I have on them. So if anything here is uncanon, I apologize in advance.)

—

A word to the wise: housing in Kurain Village is much more affordable than in Khura'in. Homesickness is also extremely mild by comparison, at least if you live elsewhere in the United States. And studying spirit channeling practices is far less depressing than solving stacks of murder cases for weeks at a time. Therefore, Kurain Village should be considered a mild and peaceful place to live.

The only problem is, "mild and peaceful" quickly turns into "boring and dull" when you've been living in the same small house studying the same two books for over a month.

 _"Training for the practice of channeling involves many aspects similar to those of a formal or especially important Channeling Rite. Common shared practices include the burning of incense as an offering to the spirit being channeled, candles being lit to show honor and respect to the deceased, and special clothing to increase the focus of the channeler. Due to these commonalities, the aspect of training is often misunderstood to be a more important or more difficult practice than casual channeling; when in reality, channeling is, of course, a much more difficult feat, and does not include most ceremonial traditions solely because they are not needed to…"_

Suddenly, my reading was interrupted by the loud ringing of my cellphone. I silently fist-pumped, thankful for the distraction (no matter how temporary it might be), and checked the number— it wasn't one I recognized, but a call from a telemarketer was as much of a distraction as a call from Athena or Mr. Wright. (Talking to Trucy was like talking to a telemarketer anyway, so there was no real comparison to make.)

"Hello, Justice Law Offices," I said into the transmitter.

"Hey, Apollo!" an overly cheerful female voice said from the other end.

I blinked in confusion. "Um… Ms. Fey, is that you?"

"Yup!" I heard the familiar voice reply. "Nick gave me your number in case of an emergency."

"Umm… okay…" I started awkwardly. "But why didn't you just come over? I live literally a two minute walk away from you." I resisted adding a comment about laziness, since it really wasn't my place to criticize my superiors. Especially superiors who happened to work with my boss.

"Yea, see, I'm not exactly home right now," came the casual reply. "I'm actually on a train to Texas. Or, at least, I will be in less than five minutes."

"I— what?" I asked, even more lost than I was before.

"Something came up," Ms. Fey explained, "You know, mysterious murder in some gold mine… anyway, Nick asked me to come along to help take care of it. He wanted me to let you know he was gonna be out of town, since he forgot his cell phone, because of _course_ he did." Her voice was slightly pouty, like a little kid who'd been told to do the dishes.

"O-oh," was all I could say back. I was disappointed that Mr. Wright was going to be gone for a while, but at least he'd made sure I knew he'd be gone. There wasn't a big chance I would've gotten an excuse to visit him, anyway. "Thanks for telling me. Is that all?"

"Of course not," Ms. Fey giggled. "Since I'm gone, I need a favor from you, if you're not too busy. And I know you're not 'cuz you're always talking about how bored you get studying those books."

"Heh… yea, you got me there," I laughed nervously. Partially due to homesickness and partially because it felt rude not to, I'd gone out to lunch with Ms. Fey and Pearl a couple times since moving to Kurain Village, and I'd talked plenty of times about how overly peaceful my work had become.

"Good! So, anyway, Pearly is going to need someone to watch over her while she trains, and since I'm gone, you'll have to do. You know enough about spirit channeling that I'm sure you won't screw up, but all you really have to do is be there in case something goes wrong," she said casually.

"W-wait," I stammered, "I don't mind watching over Pearl, but what am I supposed to do if something _does_ go wrong? I've only read about spirit channeling, and watched you do it _once_ in Khura'in months ago. I have no idea what to do if a spirit goes rogue or something!"

"Pearls will tell you everything you need to know, but if worst comes to worst, you can always just run back to the village and get help," Ms. Fey assured me in a not-very-assuring voice. "The waterfall where she trains is right outside the village. I'm sure even _you_ can run that short distance if you need to," she teased.

"O-okay, well, if there's nobody else available," I sighed. "I just don't want to cause any trouble because I'm inexperienced."

"You won't! If you do, I'll deform you for life. So you won't," came the cheerful reply. A train whistle went off faintly in the background. "Oops, that's the train I'm supposed to meet Nick on. Tell Pearls I said hi!" Then, I heard a happy-sounding _click_ and the conversation was over. I sighed and slumped against the wall. What had I gotten myself into this time? Scratch that, this time it wasn't even my fault. Trouble really did have a way of finding me.

I glanced up at the digital clock on my desk. It was almost twelve. What time had Pearl mentioned she trained, again? I racked my brain for answers, then looked down at the thick, open book in front of me. My eyes fell on the middle of the page, where black font on faded paper and several old-looking diagrams stared back at me.

 _"…furthermore, the differences between formal Channeling Rites and beginner-to-amateur level training sessions cannot be overlooked. For instance, Channeling Rites, although there are exceptions, are often held during the evening so that the light of the candles may illuminate the area in an aesthetically pleasing glow. Training sessions are, in contrast, usually started at high noon for multiple reasons, including but not limited to: safety in numbers, warmer temperatures to make focus easier for the spirit medium, physical strength of the possessed body…"_

Noon? I glanced at the clock again. As if I had cued it, it suddenly changed from 11:58 to 11:59. _Oh, brother,_ I thought as I rushed out the door. _Why do these things always happen to me?_


	2. An Unlikely Acquaintance

(A/N: Alright now we get to the fun stuff! And by "fun," I mean platonic fluff that I got so embarrassed about, my hands shook while writing it l'D)

—

I made my way to the clearing just minutes after 12:00, panting and sweating like a dog who'd been forced to run laps in the summer heat. Pausing to catch my breath, I looked around the area for Pearl, who should've already been posing under a waterfall or burning incense or something.

"Um… Mr. Apollo?"

"AH!" I yelped and turned around in surprise to see Pearl standing in front of me in full channeling gear (which actually looked simpler than her normal outfit) and holding a basket in front of her nervously.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry if I scared you!" she exclaimed. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, one of her many nervous ticks. She was always nervous, and easier to read than the open book I'd left lying on the desktop. Not that I really minded— readability was only a bad trait for a lawyer, which Pearl was not.

"No, you're fine," I said, adjusting my vest and straightening my posture. "You're here for your channeling training, right?"

"Um, yes, but…" She glanced behind me shyly. "Where's Mystic Maya?"

I paused and blinked in confusion. "Wait, didn't she tell you?"

The younger girl cocked her head. "Didn't tell me what?"

 _Great. Now I have to explain the situation, too._

"I guess she must've been in a big rush, then… I'm sorry, but Ms. Fey is currently on a train to Texas," I sighed.

"W-what?!" Pearl exclaimed.

"Yeah, it came as a bit of a shock to me, too… some murder case came up that Mr. Wright had to go solve, and apparently he wanted her help. She asked me to oversee your training in case something goes wrong," I explained in the best professional voice I could pull off.

"O-oh. Okay," she replied, in a badly covered and obviously disappointed voice. I felt bad for the girl: from the little I knew about her, she valued Ms. Fey's company very highly.

"Sorry I wasn't able to give you any warning," I apologized, "but I only just found out minutes ago." I paused, unsure of what to do next. "Do you need any help setting things up, or…?"

"Well… I suppose you could help me set up the candles," she replied, slowly gaining back a tone of confidence. "Here, just set these around the pond… um, as evenly spaced as you can, if that's okay." She pulled out several plain white candles from her basket and handed them to me gently, as if she were afraid she would break them.

"Sure thing," I replied, following her instructions. In the back of my mind, I wondered how accurate the book would prove to be when compared to an actual training session of a real spirit medium. I also made a mental note to memorize any differences Pearl's training showed from what I'd learned about training in Khura'in. I _was_ still technically working as a Khura'in lawyer-slash-politician-slash-diplomat.

Several minutes later, after Pearl had lit the candles and showed me a spot to watch from, the training began. The spirit medium walked to a spot underneath the gentle waterfall, closed her eyes, and folded her hands into an odd (apparently traditional) pose. She seemed unfazed by the rush of cold water that streamed down her, even though I shivered at the mere thought of it. Her plain white robe was quickly soaked, as well as her loops of hair, which were pressed flat against her head by the constant stream of water. I watched her for several minutes, but she didn't stir, nor did she even once open her eyes. So soon, my gaze traveled to the area surrounding us, which consisted of several large, flat rocks (including the one I was sitting on) and a few healthy-looking trees. There was also the steady sound of flowing water, accompanied by the occasional rustling of the leaves on the trees as a light wind would blow past. I'd expected to be bored just sitting by, but the scenery was actually incredibly relaxing, and let my mind wander to other subjects besides my studies. I wondered briefly if Mr. Wright had ever helped Ms. Fey back in her training days, and if so, if he'd had a similar experience as me.

After what was probably a little less than an hour, Pearl suddenly bowed and stepped out from underneath the waterfall, opening her eyes.

"I've finished," she said, coming over in my direction. "I'm sorry if I made you wait long."

"No, it was all right," I reassured her. "Actually, it's quite beautiful out here. And I'm impressed how you didn't move the entire time!"

"I didn't?" Pearl asked, sounding rather surprised by the comment.

"Not while I was watching," I replied, shaking my head.

"Oh, that's such good news!" she exclaimed, folding her hands together in delight. "I usually have a bad habit of mumbling out loud while I speak to spirits, which isn't very professional… Oh, this is good news indeed!" She looked incredibly pleased with herself, but in a modest way that would make anyone happy about her accomplishment along with her.

"Well, congratulations," I replied with a smile, although I didn't fully understand what she meant by 'speaking with spirits'. "So… why do you think you were able to stay perfectly still this time?" I'd meant it as a positive remark on how long Pearl must have been training herself to get better, but instead she paused and considered my question carefully.

"A-actually… well, um, I think perhaps it was because you were here instead of Mystic Maya," she admitted, rather flustered.

"Me?" I asked in surprise. She didn't show any telltale signs that she was lying. "Why would I be a help? I know almost nothing about spirit channeling. I mean, I know how rituals are performed, but I don't have a lot of hands-on experience."

"That's just it," Pearl replied, a light blush adorning her cheeks. "See, I-I get kind of nervous when Mystic Maya is around, even though I'm supposed to concentrate. I just don't want to mess up in front of her. I didn't worry about you, though, because I thought you probably couldn't tell even if I did mess up. I suppose it helped me focus better."

"Oh… well then, I'm glad I was able to help, even if I didn't do anything," I laughed. "I'm still sorry about your cousin not being here, though. I know you really enjoy her company."

"Oh, I do!" Pearl exclaimed, walking over to the candles and starting to snuff them out by pinching on them. I wondered how she did that without hurting her fingers. "Mystic Maya is the friendliest, kindest person I know."

"You really look up to her, huh?" I asked, smirking slightly. Ms. Fey was slightly annoying to me, if I was completely honest, but seeing Pearl so happy about her was pretty adorable. Just talking about her made Pearl light up like the candles she gathered as she spoke.

"I admire her more than anybody else in the world," the girl sighed happily. "She's so talented… but so funny, too!" She giggled slightly as if remembering a joke her cousin had told her. "Oh, and she's always willing to help people, but she's also strong and stands up for herself… and to top it all off, now she's a master of spirit channeling! I want to be just like her when I grow up." She beamed as if she'd just won a medal, and her expression was far-off and dreamy.

"Wow," was all I could manage to say while stifling a laugh. I didn't think lowly of Pearl's admiration— in fact, it only made her more humble and likable. I simply didn't think Ms. Fey quite deserved all the praise she was being given.

"O-oh, I'm sorry if I was rambling," Pearl apologized, apparently picking up on my laughter. She hid part of her face with one of her hands and sighed happily. "I guess I've got quite the squish on Mystic Maya… I get carried away sometimes."

I cocked my head in confusion. "Squish?"

"Yea, a platonic crush… You know, like the one you have on Mr. Phoenix," Pearl said innocently.

"W-what?!" I exclaimed, suddenly feeling very defensive for no particular reason. "Okay, I don't know what you're talking about, but I definitely do not have a… 'squish' on Mr. Wright."

"Well, you look up to him, don't you?" Pearl asked.

"Of course. He's my mentor," I replied, fingering my badge.

"And you think him a good mentor?" the girl continued.

I nodded firmly and professionally. "I do."

"Why?" Pearl inquired.

"Well, he's smart," I started, "and extremely resourceful… and he's a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom. Even _I_ can't tell when he's bluffing, although he can read _me_ like a book. Oh, and he's very good at teaching those traits to Athena and myself, which is important. That is, he's not only good at what he does, but he's good at teaching his skills to others, although of course nobody can really get close to his level. Still, his mentorship has taught me more than any book or college class ever has, and he's far kinder than either." I stifled a laugh thinking about some of my college professors. "He's not just kind to his workers, though, or even Trucy, who he cares about more than anything. I've seen him help complete strangers in their times of need, and go out of his way to do it! You'd think he would be chafed at the world by now because of how many people have mistreated him, but no, he just keeps on smiling and helping those in need. I've honestly never met anyone with half his mental strength, CERTAINLY not anybody who was so strong _and_ so kind. If I could even be a fraction of the person he is now, I…"

My voice faltered as I noticed Pearl looking at me silently with a smug, triumphant grin on her face. "I… I'm rambling, aren't I?" I stammered.

"Just a bit," she giggled, putting her hand up to her mouth as if to contain her laughter. The tables had been turned.

I felt a warm heat rise up to my cheeks. "Okay, m-maybe I do have a… um… 'squish' on Mr. Wright."

"You think?" she asked, her innocent and kind laughter sounding rather evil and powerful.

"Augh." I buried my face in my hands as Pearl finished putting the candles in her basket.

"Don't worry about it," the girl replied. Her voice was still so young-sounding, sometimes I had trouble remembering she was actually 19. "So, um, Mr. Apollo… since Mystic Maya's going to be gone for a while, are you going to watch my training until she gets back?"

"That's what I was asked to do, and I intend to keep my word… even if I didn't really have a choice in making it," I laughed, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"I'll see you tomorrow," she replied with a bow, and started to walk away. Then, hesitating, she turned around and added, "Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries… it's just, I don't get to talk to many people who, you know… understand what I feel."

I paused, then shook my head. "No, it… it's okay. It was actually kind of nice to talk to you, too." I was thoroughly aware and thoroughly annoyed that the heat hadn't left my face yet.

Pearl's face contorted into a small, shy smile. "I'm glad to hear that." Then, after another pause, she repeated "See you tomorrow!" and sped down the path.

 _Tomorrow… yeah._

My time in Kurain Village had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.


	3. Restful Conversation

(#When the show ur watching is so mediocre that u would rather update the fanfic that u get no reviews on than watch the next episode of said show)

—

 _The green leaves of the trees,_ I decided, _look better against this cloud-spotted sky than the solid blue sky yesterday._

I looked around me lazily. Nothing much had changed about the scenery from the day before, but it had the same calming effect. Calming, not because it cleared my mind, but because it allowed it to wander from my normally somewhat-rigid thinking pattern. Pearl had told me while we were setting up that spirit mediums trained in places of nature because it was easier to commune with spirits there, but I wondered to myself if it also hindered the focus that was apparently so important to keep unbroken. At least for me, sitting quietly while I listened to the waterfall did anything but help me focus… which, at least for the moment, was a good thing. I found my two books much easier to study after taking a break to watch over Pearl.

 _On the subject of Pearl,_ I thought to myself, _she seems to fit the scenery as if she was painted right in._ True, she might not fit most people's definitions of beauty, but alongside the grass and the running water, I thought her plain looks aided her. She was but another piece of nature, breathing and living along with the rest. Her hair even matched the light brown bark of the surrounding trees.

Somewhat tired of the stillness that had proceeded for the past forty minutes and wishing to perceive something in motion, I turned my attention to a bird that had landed nearby me on a rock. I silently watched it with a growing childish excitement as it hopped nearer and nearer to my resting place. _If this bird hops on me, I'm quitting my job as a lawyer and becoming a princess,_ I thought jokingly to myself. The bird suddenly noticed my presence, looked up at me, and peeped as if it was questioning my thinking. I was about to see if I could communicate with it telepathically when it suddenly fled to the sky, startled by a sudden noise behind it.

"Okay, I've finished for today," Pearl said, coming out of the river. "You mentioned while you were placing the candles that you wanted to ask me some things?"

"Huh?" I asked, trying to refocus my thinking after the disappointment of the bird's rejection. "Oh, right. I had a few questions about your training practices, and I'd like to jot down your responses, if that's all right. Nahyuta won't be very happy if I return to Khura'in with nothing to show for my time spent here," I chuckled, with a sort of half-joking half-serious laugh.

"Of course," Pearl said, bowing politely. "I'll try to answer the best I can."

"Great," I replied, pulling out a small notepad and pen I'd stuck in my pocket. "First question: What's the significance of the prayer hands you make when you're about to contact or channel a spirit? That is to say, why do you position them like you do?"

"Why do you point your finger when you yell 'objection?'" Pearl responded.

"Um— sorry, what?" I asked, blinking. "I don't… I was asking _you_ the question?"

An unfamiliarly strong look of fear suddenly welled up in the spirit medium's eyes. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, I just—"

"No, no, you're fine," I said quickly. "I was just confused, that's all. And, to be honest, I don't know why I point my finger. I guess I've always watched other lawyers do it, and… well, it just feels right."

Wiping her eyes and clearly trying to bring her nerves back down, Pearl sniffed and nodded. "E-Exactly. It's part tradition, and part instinct. Some say that the praying hands help them focus, but to me it's just something I've always done. And, um," She blushed a little. "I think it makes me look kinda pretty, too."

I grinned. "Hey, no shame there. I think the finger-point looks cool."

Pearl nodded eagerly. "Oh, don't worry, it does. Even Mystic Maya thinks so."

"Right," I laughed. Then, remembering I was supposed to be professional, I went on. "Second question: In Khura'in, different kinds of incense have different meanings, so the scents used vary based on the occasion. Do you have the same practice here?"

"Hmm…" Pearl paused and tapped her chin. "I don't think so. At least, not that I'm aware of. I don't use incense on normal training days, and I always use the same stuff for ceremonies… You could try asking the other villagers to see if they know something I don't, though."

"Okay," I said, pausing to record her responses on my notepad. Then I continued, "As a side-note, why _don't_ you use incense in all your training? I read that it was a fairly common practice."

"It _used_ to be," Pearl clarified, "back when incense was made of flower petals and wild berries. Now it's a lot more expensive. Maybe city girls can afford to wear perfume all the time, but…" she sighed. "Here, incense is for special occasions only."

"Ah… That makes sense," I said, jotting down the words "incense = expensive" on my paper. Underneath the note, I added "b-day gift?" for future reference. I'd been stuck too many times unsure of what to buy for people I only sort of knew, so I'd begun a habit about a year ago of taking special notice when people talked about things they wished they had.

"Last question for now: You mentioned yesterday that you were talking with spirits, if I remember correctly. Is that a normal type of training leading up to spirit channeling?" I asked.

"Oh, yes, it's very common," Pearl replied. "It's a little different than speaking to a person, but not as much as most people think… it's really very hard to explain. Um, it's like if you were to talk with an imaginary friend, only you have to learn how to clarify your thoughts into dialect or they won't understand you. That's why many amateur mediums— like me— have habits like mumbling or mouthing their words as they're communicating. It helps us clear our signal, but it's very unprofessional and can be troublesome if you ever need to channel a spirit without making any noise. I hope that's not too long of an answer." The girl bowed her head slightly.

"No, that's all right," I replied, writing down her response. I almost foolishly asked why anybody would ever need to channel a spirit without making noise… then I remembered what happened to Ms. Fey. I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind. _Nope, I'm not thinking about that incident right now._

"Well… I think that's all I need for today," I said, standing up awkwardly fast. "I'll be sure to write down any more questions I think of while researching tonight."

"Of course. How is your research, anyhow?" Pearl asked, although she then looked anxious about having prolonged the conversation. She'd probably mistaken my abruptly fast movement as an attempt to cut off communication with her instead of an attempt to cut off my thoughts about a past I'd rather forget.

"It's going well, thanks. Not too thrilling, but there are a lot worse alternatives," I said. "And honestly, I think these two sessions of watching you train have been very conducive to my studies." _By giving me a brain break, but hey, whatever works, right?_

"Oh! I'm very happy to hear that!" Pearl said in a delighted voice. "Then, it won't be too boring to continue helping me?"

"I still don't see how I'm helping much, but no, it doesn't bother me at all," I said, giving her an affirming nod. "Although I'll be honest, I do hope I get an update on the situation in Texas…" I frowned slightly, and Pearl did the same.

"I do, too… But you know Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick. They're probably scurrying around in a big hurry to collect all the evidence they need." Her face lightened up a little. "And then when the trial day comes, BAM! They'll crush the prosecution's case into dust!" She clasped her hands together in delight, and I took a small step backwards.

 _Note to self: she really IS related to Maya. As sweet as she is, I don't want to get on her bad side._ I brushed myself off and tucked my paper and pen back into my pocket. "You're probably right. I shouldn't worry too much. I'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place?"

"See you tomorrow, and thank you again!" She nodded and headed down the path, her basket of candles in hand.

I took a different route, although it probably would've been about equally as fast if I'd gone with Pearl, and hummed to myself as I walked back in the direction of my little house.

When I got back, nothing about the study had changed, but the thick ancient book in front of me didn't seem half as tiring as before.


	4. (Step)Ladders

(A/N: Chapter 4 and still no reviews...

Not sure why I'm even updating the story at this point, but hey, fingers crossed.)

—

 _"Chapter 26: Modern Clothing vs. Traditional Apparel: Changes in Robes Through the Ages,"_ the book in front of me said. I had read chapter 26 at least a dozen different times, but there was one frustrating passage in it that was proving incredibly hard to translate into English notes. The particular book I was studying that day was the thinner of the two I'd brought with me, and also happened to be written entirely in Khura'inese. Now, having grown up in Khura'in, I'd already been taught the language for the purposes of ceremonies, although I was still far more fluent in English. The problem with the book was that it used quite a few Khura'inese-specific words that didn't really translate into any English words I knew of, and my notes were supposed to be readable to the general public of both Khura'in and the U.S. In fact, Nahyuta had specifically asked for them that way.

 _I love your noble aspirations, brother, but they're proving to be incredibly inconvenient for me right now._ I sighed, reread the intro to the chapter for the twelfth time, tapped my pen on the book, and glanced at the clock. _Thank goodness, it's almost noon._ It was only my third day of watching over Pearl while she trained, and already noon had become my favorite time of day (except perhaps my lunch break).

Somewhat impatient and deciding it couldn't do any harm, I started to pack up early, grabbing my notebook and pen and also a coat off the back of my chair, since it had gotten slightly chilly and would probably only be colder outside. I didn't love wearing coats, but I still didn't have enough money for regular heating. I made a mental note to invest in a space heater soon.

Walking the usual route to the training spot, I was suddenly surprised to hear a quiet singing up ahead. I paused in my tracks and quickly pinned the voice down as Pearl's, who didn't seem to be aware that I was nearby. I listened with amusement as she sang to herself, sounding very happy to be doing so.

"I'm Mister White Christmas, I'm Mister Snow…" She placed down her candles as she went, apparently having decided to set up early. "I'm Mister Icicle, I'm Mister Ten Below!"

I debated to myself whether or not to alert the girl of my presence. I didn't wish to scare her, but I was also rather proud of myself for knowing the song, even if it was completely mainstream. I wasn't usually aware of popular stuff.

"Friends call me Snow Miser, whatever I touch…" the girl continued to sing. "Turns to snow in my clutch! I'm too much!"

"She's Mister White Christmas, she's Mister Snow…" I continued in a sing-song voice, coming out into the clearing. Pearl yelped and spun around, apparently embarrassed I'd caught her singing.

"M-Mr. Apollo! Sorry, I didn't know you were here yet!" she exclaimed.

"I didn't know you'd be here yet, either. You have a lovely voice," I laughed. "It's not quite snow weather, but it _is_ rather cold out, huh? Fitting song choice."

"O-oh," she stammered, blushing a little, "Thank you. I-I don't like singing for other people, but I'm glad I sounded okay."

"I wouldn't have told you that you did if you didn't," I said with a shrug. "I assume you're ready to go?"

"M-hm," was the girl's only response, and she stepped into the river and took her place under the waterfall. I was still shocked that she wasn't affected at all by the cold water, especially on a day with wind chill.

Training was more or less the same as it had been previously, with the addition of the extra wind provoking occasional slight shivers. I was grateful for the routine, however; it meant that Pearl wasn't trying anything incredibly dangerous, which would have meant more work for me along with the obvious possibility of someone getting hurt.

"Oh, darn."

I jumped, startled at the sudden voice. Pearl had only just begun training, and she never talked during it.

"What is it?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"The wind blew the candles out," she sighed, walking over to a candle that was indeed unlit. I blinked.

"Oh. I hadn't even noticed. Um… how could you tell with your eyes closed?" I asked.

"I couldn't start a conversation with the spirit I was trying to contact. I could sense some sort of displeasure and a feeling of being disrespected, and then I figured out what had happened," she replied with a sigh. "This isn't the first time this has happened." She took the lighter back out from her basket and re-lit the candle, only for another wind gust to immediately kick up and blow it back out.

"Wow. I had no idea," I said, and then realized I should probably write down the newfound information. I scribbled on my notepad as Pearl kept fighting back and forth with the wind in her candle-lighting battle.

"It's no use," she sighed after a few minutes. "I guess talking to spirits is a no-go today."

"Does that mean you won't be able to train until the weather is better?" I asked, disappointed.

"Well, there are other forms of training—" Pearl started, but was cut off by a sudden wail from somewhere nearby. We exchanged worried glances and immediately rushed off to the sound of the noise, fearful that something terrible had happened.

Right on the outskirts of the village, we came face-to-face with a little boy I was unfamiliar with, who was sniffing and looking very upset.

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked the child anxiously. He couldn't have been much more than six years old.

"M-my kite got st-stuck in the tree," he sniffled, wiping his nose on his long coat sleeves. Tears had already welled up in his tiny eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Pearl said gently. "Can you show me what tree it got caught in? Maybe we can help you get it down."

I had to admit, I was impressed with her patience and immediate kindness. I was rather annoyed at the boy for making us worry that something horrible had transpired, but logically I knew that Pearl's reaction to the situation was better than mine. The boy probably hadn't meant to cause any trouble.

"Th-that one," the boy said, pointing to a tree right next to where I was standing. I glanced up and saw a streak of red through the gaps in the leaves, but there wasn't any visible string that was hanging within reachable distance.

"I-I don't wanna bother you," the boy said, wiping his eyes. "I can try an' climb it if you can't reach it…"

"I don't think that's a great idea. That doesn't look like a very sturdy climbing tree," I advised. "There aren't any branches at a lower distance that you could use to get to the higher ones."

"Maybe I can put him on my shoulders, then," Pearl offered, and stooped down so the boy could climb on her back. She wobbled over to the tree, looking so off balance I was almost afraid she was going to fall. I stayed close in case something happened.

"Try reaching for your kite now," she instructed, and the boy stretched his arms out as much as they would go, but to no avail. He was still a good distance away from the kite, and it was positioned so that he'd have to reach through a branch in order to snatch it. I wasn't even sure how the kite had gotten that badly tangled in the first place.

 _Poor kid's got about as much bad luck as I do,_ I thought sympathetically. I'd forgotten about being annoyed with the boy and now felt rather bad for him, especially since he seemed like he felt like an inconvenience, which hit a little too close to home for me.

"Mr. Apollo, you're taller than me," Pearl pointed out, helping the boy off her shoulders. "Maybe you can help him?"

"We still wouldn't be tall enough," I said with a frown. "And the way that branch is covering the kite, I don't think anyone standing on anyone's shoulders is going to be a great idea. Somebody would have to lean way over, and that'd only result in catastrophe." I sighed and stared at the trapped red object disdainfully. "It looks like we'll have to go get a ladder."

"Um, don't you mean a stepladder?" Pearl asked slightly nervously. I blinked.

"Yea… Same thing…" I said, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"W-well, actually, there's a difference…" she mumbled, averting her gaze from my eyes. The little boy looked on with an incredibly confused expression as my eyes grew wide and my voice suddenly took on an incredibly serious tone.

"No… Don't tell me… you're one of _them?!"_ I whispered in shock.

"Y-yea, sort of," Pearl replied, fidgeting with a hanging strand of hair.

"You're on Team Stepladder?!" I cried. The boy now seemed completely lost, but my focus was elsewhere. "But— but— _Ms. Fey_ is—!"

"On Team Ladder, I know," Pearl sighed, sounding like she was talking about a fallen soldier. "I used to not really see the point of the whole debate, but I guess I was always kind of on her side, at least until Mr. Wright explained to me the importance of… Hey, wait a second. Mr. Wright is the one who told me how important it was to call things by their proper names— YOU'RE opposing him?" she asked with a gasp. Now it was my turn to avert my gaze. My eyes fell to the floor dramatically.

"I… I still don't see the point," I sighed. "I just think it's unnecessary and wastes time to be so precise, when people will understand what you mean either way! And besides," I added defensively, "The term 'stepladder' does technically fall within the 'ladder' category, so it isn't wrong to call it that!"

"U-um, what are you two talking about?" the boy next to Pearl finally asked, although as he did so he stepped away slowly, as if he feared we might start throwing punches.

"… I'll explain it to you another time," the spirit medium sighed sadly after a pause. She looked up at me with a grave expression and clutched the fabric of her robe near her heart. "Mr. Apollo, I'm very sorry to hear that we differ on this issue. But I think we'd best put our differences aside until after we've helped this child with his tragedy."

I nodded and held out my badge in a mark of sincerity. "Understood. Come along," I said, motioning to the boy. "There are some candles in a nearby clearing that probably shouldn't be left unattended; I'd like to go pick them up. Afterwards, we'll go into the village and ask around to see if anyone has a ladder they'll let us borrow."

"Stepladder," I heard Pearl mumble, and it took every ounce of my strength not to pull rank on her. As we started heading back to the waterfall, I heard the little boy (who's name I still hadn't remembered to ask for) ask quietly under his breath,

"What just happened?"


	5. The Phone Call

"Hey, I'm sorry again about training yesterday."

"Oh, it was all right! Y-you really didn't have to do this, you know…"

I shrugged at my companion. "I know. This is fun for me, too, though. Remember, I get to take a longer break from my studies this way."

In a small, fairly new café in Kurain Village, at precisely 1:00 pm, I sat with Pearl at a wooden table looking over the menu. She'd already done her daily training (as the weather was still chilly but the wind had died down considerably), but I'd offered to take her someplace to eat afterwards, partially because I wanted to make up for the failed training session the day before and partially because I enjoyed her company. It was a little awkward being there without Ms. Fey (everyone kept asking where she was), but we were adjusting all right.

"Alright, I've decided what I'm getting," I said after a few moments of silence. I slid the menu to the middle of the table, which wasn't that far away because everything in the café looked undersized. Then again, the entire village was rather quaint, so it was a fitting atmosphere.

"Same here," Pearl replied, then paused and looked around for a waiter. One of them noticed her and came over quickly. I was pretty sure he was the only waiter in the entire place.

"What can I get for you today?" he asked, with an accent I couldn't place. I wondered if he was one of those people who put on a fake accent to make himself look cooler. Pearl pointed to something on the menu in response, and I placed my order.

Once he'd left, I turned back to her and asked, "So, about that little boy yesterday—"

 _*Do do do DO, do do do…*_ My cellphone went off, interrupting my train of thought.

"Augh, sorry," I said, picking up the phone and checking the number. It looked familiar, and I realized I'd probably forgotten to add Ms. Fey into my contacts when she'd called me previously. "Hello?"

"Hi, Apollo." I almost jumped a little at expecting to hear Ms. Fey's voice and instead hearing Mr. Wright's. "Sorry I wasn't able to get in touch with you earlier, seems I left my cell phone at home, so I'm borrowing Maya's for the time being… I hope you're doing well?"

"Is that Mr. Phoenix?" Pearl whispered, leaning forward to hear the voice on the other end of the phone better. I nodded.

"H-hi, Mr. Wright! I'm fine. I've been helping Pearl Fey with her training," I said quickly.

"So Maya told me. Sorry we didn't have time to warn you we were leaving, but we weren't exactly expecting a new client," he replied.

"Of course," I said, partially in politeness and partially because it really was the truth. Of course they weren't expecting a new client; we only ever got clients when we weren't prepared. "Um… how long do you think you'll be away?"

"That's why I called you. Unfortunately, the trial isn't going so well," he sighed. Pearl and I looked at each other in alarm.

"The trial's already started?" Pearl asked in a hushed voice. There weren't many other people in the café to disturb, but she was always wary of those around her.

"What IS good," Mr. Wright continued, "is that we bought a lot of time with a bluff about this gold mine's safety conditions, so we have anywhere from three days to a full week to continue our investigation."

"Wow," I said, impressed. "Wait, does that mean you'll be staying in Texas, then?"

"For at least a while, yes," he responded. "I wanted to make sure you knew."

From across the table, Pearl raised one eyebrow and shot a small smile at me. I glared back, then remembered I was still on the phone.

"Huh? Oh, th-thanks. Yea, I'll be fine."

"…I know you will be. Still, if anything happens, give me a call, okay? I can arrange for Athena to be sent down to your aid, should you need assistance."

Pearl's smile only got more smug. I tried to ignore her.

"Th-thank you, I will. I don't intend on getting wrapped up in a trial right now, though," I laughed nervously.

"We never do," I heard Mr. Wright sigh on the other end. Pearl failed to contain a loud giggle at his statement. There was a lull in the conversation and for a minute I thought he'd hung up.

"Apollo, was that Pearl?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, yea, it was. Say hi, Pearl," I said, holding out the phone to her.

"Hi, Mr. Nick," she said cheerfully into the transmitter. She sounded a bit like she was trying to imitate Maya.

"…Um, shouldn't you be concentrating?" he asked her.

"Hm? Oh, w-we're not training right now," Pearl laughed in embarrassment.

"Then where…?" he started. I took the phone back quickly.

"There was a mishap with training yesterday, so I took her out to lunch to apologize." I desperately hoped he didn't catch on that I was also kind of procrastinating my work.

After a pause, he replied, "Glad to hear it. Spoken like a true gentleman." There was a noise I couldn't pinpoint in the background, and then some yelling from voices I didn't know.

"I've got to go," Mr. Wright said. "Take care." Then he hung up. I put my phone back into my pocket while Pearl folded her hands on the table and set her chin down on them, smiling.

"It was very kind of him to make sure you were doing okay," she said in a you-know-what-I-mean tone of voice.

"Sh-shut up," I mumbled, and looked around to see if the waiter had our food ready yet.

"'Shut up?' Wow, spoken like a true gentleman," she retorted, grinning bigger than ever. I couldn't decide if I liked her more or less since she'd started to come out of her shell.

"Oh, look, our food's finally ready," I said as I spotted the waiter approaching us from the kitchen. We both nodded politely to him as he set our food down and left to take care of another table. I turned back to Pearl.

"Well, in a dramatic turn of events, it looks like I'm stuck with you for at least another three days," I sighed. She grinned.

"Looks like it."

—

(A/N: Okay, first off, the normal A/N for this chapter: I HADN'T YET PLAYED PROFESSOR LAYTON VS PHOENIX WRIGHT WHEN I WROTE THIS CHAPTER BUT JUST NOW AS I WAS EDITING IT I CAME ACROSS THE "GENTLEMAN" LINE AND DIED LAUGHING. Layton definitely rubbed off on Phoenix at least a little, headcanon fully and violently accepted. XD)

((Response A/N: Dear person that left me TWO reviews yesterday: I love you. Those were legitimately the best possibly reviews I ever could've hoped for on this story. And TWO of them?! "Probably not the best idea to review twice but" NO LISTEN. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH I LOVE REVIEWS FRIEND THAT IS ONE OF THE NICEST THINGS YOU COULD EVER DO. I HAVE SOME FOLLOWERS ON A DIFFERENT STORY THAT COMMENT EVERY CHAPTER AND I NEVER GET TIRED OF THEIR REVIEWS. I'd reply to you in a PM but I'll have to wait until you have an account to do that. "^^ Anyway, thank you so, so much. You made my entire week and I'm thrilled that I was able to make you feel a little more at home. Hope you liked this chapter and the ones to come :D!)) (P.S. I am on Team Stepladder, but mostly just to annoy my cousins who don't know what AA is, haha XD) (P.P.S. I noticed you use "Red" as your guest username. It's probably just a coincidence, but that wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Pokemon, would it? Because Red is heckin' awesome.)


	6. Shipwar

"Liar! This river is FREEZING!"

I grimaced as Pearl giggled her head off from under the waterfall. After a peaceful, perfect training session, the spirit medium in training had decided to persuade me to take my socks and shoes off and step in the river, which was _not,_ as she had claimed, "heated by the afternoon sun."

"Aw, it's not that bad. I just stood under a rush of this water for over an hour," she insisted.

"You've been training to do that for years!" I retorted, crossing my arms. "Also, now my feet are dirty. This looks very unprofessional."

Pearl paused and studied my appearance. Even she couldn't deny that I looked a little odd; I wore my usual formal attire, but my pants were rolled up to my knees and my feet were bare and muddy from stepping into the river. I reached up a hand nervously to make sure my hair at least looked fine.

"Well, I will say you look pretty bad, but only because of that facial expression," she teased, sticking out her tongue at me. "But if you want to clean your feet, just sit on a rock and wash 'em off in the river."

"I am NOT stepping back into that freezing water," I argued defiantly.

"What choice do you really have?" Pearl pointed out.

I paused. "Well… I-I'll find a way! There's always another option, if you look for it hard enough."

"This isn't a court case, Mr. Apollo."

I sighed. "You don't happen to have any towels around here, huh?"

Pearl shook her head. "I air-dry in the sun when I finish training. Most spirit mediums do."

"Yea, I read something about that," I said. "Ugh… I certainly hope Ms. Fey isn't giving Mr. Wright as hard of a time as you're giving me." I hoped Pearl wouldn't take the comment too seriously, and thankfully, she seemed to focus on the first part of my statement rather than the second.

"Mystic Maya is no trouble at all," she laughed. "Not for Mr. Nick."

"Really?" I asked with a smirk. "I haven't really seen them together much, but from what Mr. Wright tells me, she's something of a prankster."

"Oh, her jokes are all of good intentions, and Nick thinks they're funny. He just talks like that because he's not good at admitting his feelings," she said, waving me off.

"Uh… what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, his feelings for Mystic Maya," she said, and her voice suddenly took on a dreamy tone. "He's too shy to admit it, but he's her special somebody!"

"WHAT?" I yelped, and then scoffed. "Yea, right. Where'd you get this information?"

"From observing. Like you do," she said, folding her arms. "Come on, it's obvious they're in love."

"Ew, okay, what world are you living in?" I asked. "If I was drinking something, I would've done a spit-take by now. Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey? Are you crazy?"

"Am _I_ crazy? How about you? How are _you,_ the master of perception, not able to see how much they love each other?" she exclaimed, taken aback.

I paused, then smirked. "I think that water's been hitting your head a little too hard. Maybe you should find a gentler waterfall to train under— AH! HEY!" I yelped as Pearl kicked water at me from where she was standing in the river.

"Serves you right." She smirked, but her eyebrows were set in confident debate mode. "Maybe you just don't know what it's like to be in love, so you can't see it." She nodded to herself. "Yes, that would make sense."

I took a step backward from the river to avoid any further cold water droplets that might be violently splashed in my direction. "Well, I will admit I've never dated before. But how about you? Do _you_ know what it's like to be in love?"

Pearl paused in thought, then frowned. "W-well— no— b-but I've seen it in action!"

"With who?"

"Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick!"

"That's like saying you know a knife killed a victim because a knife killed the victim. You need other evidence to back up your claims," I scoffed.

"Fine. I don't have much experience with love myself. But Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya are meant to be!" she exclaimed. She then clasped her hands together and swayed slightly as she talked. "They're like a couple from a beautiful fairy tale. The brave, valiant knight who saves the beautiful princess… and then they fall in love and get married!"

I was literally so shocked by her claims that I was rendered speechless out of pure disbelief for several seconds. "You can't seriously believe what you're saying. Mr. Wright is brave and valiant, and Ms. Fey is pretty, I'll give you that, but—"

" _And_ he's saved her. _Multiple_ times," she added, crossing her arms. She tried to kick more water at me, but I'd already moved out of the way.

"No abusing the defense," I said. "And one person having to save the other from constant kidnappings isn't exactly my idea of an ideal relationship. If anything, Mr. Wright is more like Ms. Fey's father or something."

"OBJECTION!" Pearl cried, then giggled to herself for using my phrase. "He _has_ a daughter. And he doesn't treat Mystic Maya anything like he treats Trucy."

"Hmm… Yea, you're right. He likes Trucy way better," I retorted, sticking up my nose.

Pearl was silent for a moment, and I thought she was actually considering my point. Then, she marched towards me, cupped a bunch of water in her hands, and splashed it on my torso before I could move out of the way.

"AAAH! COLD!" I shrieked, leaping backwards. "OBJECTION! I DEMAND A PENALTY FOR THAT!"

Without hesitation, Pearl bunched up some of her wet hair and brought it in front of her face, mimicking a beard with it. "Objection overruled!" she said, in an extremely fake-sounding judge voice. "The prosecution has perfect grounds for their actions towards the defense!" Then, after a pause, she dropped the voice and asked me, "By the way, why do you get to be the defense? Seems more like you're the one trying to prosecute the love of Mystic Maya and Mr. Nick."

"I'm the defense attorney," I shot back, showing off my badge. "And in the cases I've been in, the prosecution is usually the one who's nuts."

"Hmph. _You're_ the one who bluffs your way out of everything."

"And I'm proud of that," I retorted. "It takes a lot of skill to bluff your way through a court case and still get to the truth!"

"Whatever," Pearl laughed, bringing back her confident smile. "When the lovebirds get back from Texas, you can observe them with the knowledge of their hidden love. Then even you won't be able to miss it."

"Uh-huh. You wanna bet on that?" I asked, smirking.

"Well, neither of us really have much money…" she pointed out. "And you have even less because of yesterday."

"True… How about this?" I asked. I took a deep breath, fully aware of what I was about to propose. "If you can prove to me— find me actual _proof_ that Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey are dating— I'll assume you know more than I do and I'll start calling ladders stepladders."

Pearl's eyes widened in shock. "And if you find absolute proof that they aren't in love…?"

"You have to stop nitpicking every little useless detail and just call them ladders," I said triumphantly, holding out my hand. There was no way Pearl would take the bet— lively as she had been lately, her confidence was still lacking.

But to my surprise, after an initial hesitation, the girl looked up at me and set her jaw firmly in place. "Fine. It's a deal." She reached out and grabbed my hand (rather tightly), and we shook on it. There was no turning back.

The battle had begun.

—

(A/N: This chapter was so insanely fun to write XD So much stuff that could be interpreted multiple ways... XD)

(Response A/N: Haha, yup, Pearl is still a major shipper, both platonically and romantically ;D XD And as of writing this chapter, I'm actually all caught up on the AJ games [and just finished the crossover], and HOLY COW YOU ARE TOTALLY RIGHT! THAT'S AN EVEN BETTER HEADCANON THAN MINE. 100% ACCEPTED. I need to draw Layton helping Athena now.) (Oh, wow, that's amazing! :O And indeed, I love it whenever the old characters are in the new games. X3 I'M pleasantly surprised that that's actually what you were referencing! I went by Yellow on forum boards for a while, actually! :D)


	7. A New Reality

"Haha, no I would NOT!" I chuckled and crossed my arms defiantly. "No way."

"Yea you would," Pearl teased. "You need the money."

"Forget money! What about my dignity?"

It was a beautiful day in Kurain Village, and the brief chill had long passed. It had been exactly two weeks since Ms. Fey first called me and asked me to watch over Pearl while she trained, and a surprising lot had happened in that short amount of time. Or, it would be more accurate to say, a surprising _little_ had happened, with a surprisingly high amount of impact. Under the sunshine, Pearl and I walked around casually, saying hi to the other villagers and window-shopping at some of the street vendors and craftsmen that had set up for the day. Two weeks ago, such a scene would've been a bizarre enough occurrence to attract suspicion of robots or clones or possibly aliens. But as it was, the event was entirely commonplace. In a very short span of time, the entire reality of the village had changed. I was no longer "the mysterious lawyer who's always either holed up in his study or dining with Maya and Pearl Fey." And Pearl was no longer just a powerful spirit medium in training, polite to all but close to none, but instead "Apollo's companion, you know, the small girl who's always laughing."

"Good morning, Ms. Fey, Mr. Justice!" called a little boy from down the street. Pearl and I looked up, paused, and waved simultaneously to the child whom we'd helped with his kite what seemed like so long ago.

"Hello, Evan," I called back. "How's the move coming along?"

"We're almost done!" he cried cheerfully. "Most of our stuff is in the house, at least. I've been helping my parents move boxes!"

"Good for you. But be careful, okay?" Pearl called as we started to walk again. "Don't hurt yourself on those ladders!" She winked at me and I smirked and ribbed her in response. Both of us knew we wouldn't really be able to prove anything about the supposed-couple until they got back from Texas, but we sure made a point to annoy each other anyway.

"Haha, oww… not so hard," she said, sticking her tongue out at me as we rounded a corner.

"Oh, sorry, shall I push you into the riverbed instead?" I joked. "Because _current-_ ly, that's my only other option for putting you in your place."

Pearl raised her eyebrows and smirked. "That was TERRIBLE. Mr. Phoenix is rubbing off on you way too much."

"Hm… You're probably _Wright._ I _Apollo-_ gize," I replied, barely stifling a laugh.

"BOOOOO," Pearl chuckled, and shoved me to the side with a surprising amount of strength. "Get off the stage!"

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," I said, smiling. "Oh, hey, look! She's not from around here, is she?" I pointed towards a vendor who was carrying around a cart of exotic-looking fruits. _That's not actually the best product to carry in Kurain Village… we live near a lot of farms and eat a lot of fresh food already._

"No, I don't think she is," Pearl replied, and then, having caught the vendor's attention, waved politely. The woman, who had previously seemed a bit stuck-up to me, suddenly seemed nervous and confused by Pearl's attention. She leaned over and whispered something to one of the village locals, whom I hadn't really noticed because we saw him all the time. He whispered back; I assumed she'd asked him who we were. I couldn't make out a word of their conversation, but I had a pretty good guess as to what they were saying.

 _"Who are they? Are they from around here?"_

 _"That's Apollo Justice and Pearl Fey. The boy only moved in a few months ago. He's here studying our channeling practices."_

 _"I see. And the girl?"_

 _"She's a spirit medium… used to be the shyest thing. So much so that even though she was a highly esteemed member of the Fey clan, we hardly knew her. Very polite, but wouldn't say more than a few words to anyone."_

 _"She looks pretty outgoing to me."_

 _"She's like that when she's with the Justice fellow. Nobody knows exactly how or when they met; some say her older sister introduced them. Either way, they're inseparable now. They go off to the waterfall every day—"_

 _"The training waterfall?"_

 _"Yes, that one. Fey trains and Justice watches her and takes notes. Or, that's what I've heard, anyway. But they often take walks before their sessions, and sometimes help around the village afterwards."_

 _"Hm… so they're close, are they? Think I could get one to buy something for the other?"_

 _"Probably not, neither one of them is very high on cash."_

 _"Oh. That's a waste, then."_

I was snapped back to actual reality (as opposed to my likely-accurate inner dialogue) by Pearl asking what the time was. I checked my watch and jumped at little, startled.

"Oh, it's almost 12:00! We have to get started!"

"Understood," Pearl said, nodding. In her hands she already held the basket full of candles, so both of us quickly made our way to the training spot. I helped Pearl place and light the candles (there were, by now, small dents in the ground where each one went, so it was easier to find their places), and then we each took our spots. I sat on a different flat rock than the one I'd watched from when we'd first started, as it had become a habit of the girl's to splash water on me whenever we debated after a training session… which was a common occurrence.

I closed my eyes as the session started, although technically I was supposed to be keeping watch. Last time I'd done so, Pearl had called me lazy, but I was actually trying to train my ears to be better, like Athena's. It still hurt a bit to think of the friends I didn't get to see often, but it was far better than being 2,000 miles away from them and working my tail off trying to get through case after case.

I listened intently to the different sounds around me, trying to hone in on each one separately. The first noise was the loudest: the rushing of the waterfall over Pearl and onto the river below, then the trickle of the river itself as it flowed past my resting place. After that came a very faint rustling of leaves— caused by an animal, no doubt, as the wind had been very still lately— and after that, a quiet peeping of a bird affirming my earlier suspicion. Some noises, like the occasional leaf falling into the water, were hard to pick out at first because they were so quiet, while others were so loud and obvious that they became white noise. Athena had told me once that she could "see" entire landscapes just by listening to her surroundings if she focused long enough, but I found that a bit of a stretch.

I practiced cycling through the sounds once again, trying very hard to concentrate on them instead of the internal reminder that I should be spending more time studying.

 _I'm all studied out for now. I've got practically enough notes to write a book of my own, as well as some starter suggestions for improving Khura'inese training. Right now I just want to listen to the water… and the leaves… and the bird that still won't land on me… and the voice…_

 _Hm. That's odd. There shouldn't be a voice right now._

I opened my eyes to see Pearl standing under the waterfall as always, in the same pose she always was, but with one major difference: her mouth was moving ever so slightly, and I could make out an incomprehensible murmuring as she presumably spoke to a spirit. I hesitated, unsure of whether to say something or not. I decided it was probably best not to break her focus and leave her be until after training.

Due to my abnormal worry, the next hour passed more slowly than usual. I lay down on my rock as quietly as I could and rested as I stared at the sky and listened placidly to a new bird who entered the area and decided to sing a tune. I found my mind drift into wondering what the view of the area looked like from the sky. I tried to picture it: a river leading down into a small waterfall, with blurred brown and white colors underneath. Cloud-shaped spots of green covering the surrounding area of grass, and tiny yellow flames on spots of white along the riverbed. A few large stretches of gray, all seemingly unnaturally flat, one of which was topped with an out-of-place splotch of red that lay casually looking at the sky.

The imagery I'd created for myself was so relaxing that I actually almost fell asleep, but I maintained a state of wariness for the sake of the low chance something actually did go wrong. Finally, after about an hour, I heard,

"Okay, I'm done!"

Pearl started walking out of the riverbed, squeezing some of the water out of her hair and seeming unaware that anything unusual had transpired.

"Um… Pearl?" I asked, hoping what I was about to say wouldn't damper her mood too much.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You, uh… you know you were mumbling… right?" I asked. Pearl looked surprised, which answered my question, but there was a very long, awkward pause afterward. I shifted my feet. Pearl looked deep in thought.

"Oh… w-well… this is… ironic," she laughed nervously, starting to play with a lock of her hair.

"What is?" I asked. "Are you not feeling well?"

"No, no, it's just…" She put on an embarrassed smile and blushed slightly. "Uh, well, it appears that I've gotten to the point where I care about you enough to be nervous of what you think of me. Apparently I didn't want to mess up. Although, like I told you earlier, that just makes me mess up more."

"O-oh." I felt my face redden to match hers. "Th-that is rather unfortunate."

"Heh… yea."

There was another awkward pause, and I suddenly realized something.

"You know, Pearl, I don't mind you messing up… but even so, I've seen you perform this kind of training without mumbling, so I know you can do it again if you want to!"

Pearl traced a circle in the ground with her feet. "Y-yea, but now I'm nervous."

I shook my head. "I think you can do it even _while_ you're nervous."

She looked up at me in surprise. "Y-you do?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yup. You're a capable spirit medium. Mr. Wright's told me about times when you were just a tyke, and you could already channel spirits. And he never mentioned anything about mumbling."

Pearl paused. "That was… different, actually… I could channel _one_ spirit in particular. Not that it wasn't still hard," she added quickly, "but it was a much less dangerous procedure because _that_ spirit would never overtake me."

"Why not?" I asked, somewhat surprised at the new information. I wondered why Mr. Wright had been so vague about her abilities.

"W-well… I don't think that's a good topic right now," she said, averting her gaze to the ground. "B-but I'm really honored you think I could do something like that. Um…" She brushed some wet hair that was clinging to her face. "We should probably be heading back."

"Yeah…" I sighed. "I've got to organize all my notes, they're scattered everywhere. And probably rewrite a lot of them, too."

"I believe it," Pearl laughed. "So… I'll see you tomorrow before training?"

I smiled. "Yea. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, we gathered up the candles and walked side-by-side down the path back to our respective homes. But little did we know that the newly formed alternate universe we'd been living in for two whole weeks was only a day away from coming to a close.

—

(A/N: MWAHAHAHAHA... I love cliffhangers :D Although I love the fact that multiple people are reading the story now even more. XP)

(Response A/N: Oh my gosh, your words made me smile so much XD Umm I hadn't considered it, but yea, I MIGHT try writing about what Maya and Phoenix were doing! I've been wanting to write a mystery actually, although I'm not sure how good I'd be at it XP But I could certainly give it a shot! We'll see if I get around to it! ^^)


	8. Awakening

There is a phenomenon which I like to refer to as a "bubble of alternate reality." It isn't a very common phenomenon, but it does happen. It is the occurrence in which two people who hardly know each other are, by some outside situation, forced together for several hours a day and for at least multiple days in a row without breaking. My research has concluded that, under these conditions, even two people who have never met may form a bond that normally takes years to develop. However, there is a catch: every bubble will eventually pop. In fact, if the timespan is too large and the bubble is therefore stable for a long time, the effects of the bubble disappear, as the people inside of it may wander around the dome as they choose with the knowledge that they will have to face the consequences of any bonds they form with the other. I therefore propose that an essential part of this dreamlike reality is, in fact, the waking up. Yet nobody thinks of waking up while they're still inside of a dream.

It was the day after Pearl had accidentally brought back her old habit of murmuring while she trained, that the spirit medium and I sat on the grass by the river before the day's work. I'd suggested doing something to ease her nerves before we began, so she was teaching me how to make flower crowns. I wasn't very good at the practice, being rather uncoordinated with my hands, but I tried my best. Tiny white flowers adorned Pearl's head and were tied together with her small, nimble hands while mine were accidentally crushed due to over-handling.

"You can't retie the knots so many times," the girl said, looking up from her own work to mine. "You'll break the stems."

"I'm trying," I sighed. "But my knots never turn out right the first time."

"Are you sure you aren't just being a perfectionist?" Pearl asked with a smile.

 _*Do do do DO, do do do…*_

We paused and then both laughed at the overly-loud ringtone disrupting our quiet conversation, but even as I picked the phone up there was a premonition of awkwardness and insecurity.

"Hello?" I asked, already recognizing the number on the screen. Pearl motioned to me and I turned on speakerphone so she could hear.

"Hi, Apollo! 'Tis I, the mighty lawyer Nick!" came a badly disguised female voice. Pearl giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"Hi, Ms. Fey. I take it the trial went well?" I asked.

Even without being able to see her, I could practically hear the girl jumping up and down in excitement. "Uh-huh! We're on our way back right now! We'll be home by tonight!"

Pearl and I both blinked, startled.

"Tonight?" I asked. "Isn't the train ride a lot longer than that…?"

"Yea, well, Nick sorta lost my phone and we only just found it—"

"I did _not_ lose her phone," another voice interrupted. "It was in her purse the whole time."

"This is my conversation, Nick!" Ms. Fey pouted. Pearl and I looked at each other and snickered.

"Let me talk to my employee," Mr. Wright sighed, and his voice became louder (presumably because he was now holding the phone). "Hello, Apollo."

"Hi, Mr. Wright. You guys are on your way back?"

"Yep, we got everything taken care of. Sorry it took longer than expected; we couldn't update you because _Maya_ misplaced her phone and we didn't have mine with me," he responded.

"It's fine," I replied, and then paused and looked at Pearl. She tried to smile, but there was an uneasiness in both of our eyes that was immediately recognizable. "So, um… you'll be back at your office by tonight?"

"Actually, we're coming over to Kurain Village, first," he replied. "We were hoping to brief you on everything that went down, if that's okay with you."

"We have the BEST story for you!" Maya added with a squeal.

"U-um, yea, of course," I replied quickly. Pearl nudged me as if to say 'where are your manners?'

"Oh, right. Would you like us to take you out to dinner?" I added. "Seeing how you've been gone for two weeks and all."

"We'd love to share a meal with you, but you don't have to pay," Mr. Wright said kindly. Then he laughed and added, "I'll make Maya do it to make up for earlier."

"Hey!" an angry voice insisted. "You can't blame me for making _that_ assumption about the real culprit! Even you agreed for a while!"

"It sounds like you've got a lot to tell us," I said, smiling uneasily. "So we'll see you…?"

"Expect us by 7:00," Mr. Wright said. "I look forward to seeing you!" Then he hung up.

I put my phone away and looked at Pearl. The entire atmosphere around us seemed to have suddenly changed on a dime. It was almost the middle of the day, but it felt as though we had just been at some bizarre slumber party in the middle of the night, and the sun was beginning to rise.

"So…" Pearl said awkwardly, looking down at the flower crown in her hands. "I guess this is our last training session together." There was an obvious, unhidden sadness in her voice.

"Yea…" I said. "I guess so."

There was an awkward silence which words couldn't describe. The dinner later that night was something to look forward to, without a doubt, but it was also something to fear. We would be dining in the company of Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey, but not only as the successors to those mentioned. We would also, by this point, be dining as good friends of each other, which if we were both entirely honest with ourselves, would probably be somewhat difficult to explain. Furthermore, the literal sunset tonight would mark the metaphorical sunrise from the odd dreamlike state we'd only just become aware of. With Ms. Fey back in Kurain Village and Mr. Wright only a driving distance away, the reality that had become so familiar so quickly simply could not exist. Pearl would be nervous around her cousin, there was just no changing that, and I would, should the need arise, be at the beck-and-call of Mr. Wright. Neither bad things in their own right, but what was to become of the accidentally formed "fourth friendship" of the square made up by two lawyers and two spirit mediums? Pearl and I didn't have to stop seeing each other entirely… did we?

"Um… Mr. Apollo?"

I blinked, unsure of how long I'd been staring at my companion while lost in thought. "Y-yes?"

Pearl hesitated. "I… I don't blame you if you don't want to, but… j-just because Mystic Maya and Nick are coming back… that doesn't mean _we_ can't still spend time together, r-right?"

She bit her lip nervously and I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled awkwardly back. "I didn't want to be the one to say it, but yea, I don't want to stop hanging out with you."

Pearl smiled at me with only a trace of the shyness she'd used to bear all the time. "Me neither."

"So…" I said, a grin spreading across my face. "I'm sure Ms. Fey will be impressed by the fact that you were able to train without mumbling at all."

Pearl squeaked and hid her face. "Y-you can't tell her I did that! I messed up yesterday! What if I mess up again today?" She stood up and stamped her foot. "Aw, now I'm really nervous and I'll definitely mess up!"

I laughed. "Come on, you'll be fine."

"Uh-huh," she said in an I-don't-believe-you voice. "So what about you? Are you going to show your research to Mr. Wright?"

"What? Pfff. It's all spirit medium stuff, he's not going to be interested in that." I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"He's dating a spirit medium, why wouldn't he be interested in spirit medium stuff?!" she exclaimed.

"This again? So far, you've given me a total of zero reasons that even imply that those two are dating," I laughed.

"Well, I thought of one," she said triumphantly. "I happen to know that they've gone out to dinner together _multiple_ times."

"So?"

"So they've gone on dates! Multiple times! That means they're dating!"

I scoffed. "Just because they go out to eat together doesn't make it a date. _We're_ going out to eat tonight," I pointed out.

"Yea, but not alone," she argued. I hesitated and fingered my badge unconsciously.

"Well, we've done that, too…" I pointed out.

Pearl paused. "Okay, yea, but that's different."

I shook my head. "You've really got to find better evidence to back up your claims."

"Pshhh," she scoffed, readjusting her white robe. "Just wait until tonight. Then you'll see." She started setting up for our final training session and I stuck my tongue out at her behind her back.

"I know you're sticking your tongue out!" she said as she lit a candle.

"How?!" I cried.

"Spirit mediums have eyes on the backs of our heads! It's how I know when Nick is looking at another girl," she giggled confidently.

"You do not," I retorted.

"Wanna check?" she teased, turning around momentarily to waggle her eyebrows teasingly.

"Just get on with your training," I said, "before it gets dark."

"Hmph," Pearl fake-pouted, crossing her arms together and finishing the set-up.

There is a phenomenon, albeit a very rare one, in which two people trapped inside of a bubble of alternate reality do _not,_ in fact, run away from each other out of sheer embarrassment the instant the bubble is popped. I've termed this phenomenon the "D.I.R." occurrence in case I ever have to write about it in some form of paperwork: D.I.R. standing for "dreams impacting reality." For I've found that, in rare instances, people wake up from dreams filled not only with wishful thinking and unfounded optimism, but with a determination to let the dreamlike state they've awakened from spur them on into actually working to make their visions a reality. When this happens, the magic of the alternate reality bubble is transformed into a stretch of hard work, but with tangible results: lawyers get their badges, pieces of literature get written, and friendships become lasting.

A word to the wise: this is not an easy result to achieve. But the rewards?

They're well worth it.

—

(Long A/Ns incoming: YAY FOR ANGST THAT TURNS INTO FLUFF BECAUSE I CAN'T KEEP ANYTHING ANGSTY TO SAVE MY LIFE X'D! Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed, and there's still the bonus chapter to look forward to so be on the lookout for that! ^O^ Oh, and fun fact about this chapter; the whole 'bubble of alternate reality' thing is 100% based on something that really happened to me. To make a long story short, me and one of my friend's friends who I hardly knew were forced to work tech together for a show, and we got SUPER close in a super short amount of time. Thankfully we've had a happy non-ending, though, like in the fic~) (Also when I wrote Phoenix saying "let me talk to my employee" I legitimately got mad at him; I was staring at my word document like "Phoenix why are you like this STOP ACTING SO PROFESSIONAL APOLLO IS BASICALLY YOUR SON AND YOU KNOW IT")

(Response A/N: AAAAAAAH I SAW YOUR REVIEW AND I WAS SO EXCITED TO POST THIS CHAPTER ASDFGHJKL! X3 Not to be a tease, but I have a feeling you'll like the next chapter, hehehe :3) (Well, first of all, see how you like this ending + the bonus chapter, haha XD But cuz I like you, I will admit that a sequel _has_ been considered and your words do motivate me to possibly give it a try… Also APOLLO **BETTER** GET BACK TO THE USA IN AA7 BECAUSE I LITERALLY CRIED AT THE END OF SoJ DESPITE IT HAVING BEEN MY FIRST AA GAME AND NOT BEING SUPER FAMILIAR WITH ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!) (Awww, that is a super big honor! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the story so much! :'O Your reviews have been the highlight of the past couple days, tbh, ESPECIALLY the long-winded ones ;P And yea, you can call me Candy, that's a super cute nickname hehe -^^- I'm gonna continue calling you Red even if you use a different name when you get your account, if that's okay, since he's awesome and you're awesome so the name fits~)


	9. Shipwar II (Bonus Chapter)

On a chilly fall day near Kurain Village, a lawyer and a spirit medium chatted eagerly while they walked along the path of the forest, admiring the red and orange leaves of the trees. Behind them by just a few yards, walked another pair: a lawyer… and a spirit medium. (Huh.) This pair, which was slightly older than the one in front, talked to each in slightly hushed voices under the loud chattering of their other companions.

"It sure is nice to visit again," stated ace attorney Phoenix Wright, shivering a little despite the warmth of his dark blue coat.

"Uh-huh! It's so pretty out!" agreed his companion, bouncing around him with unbridled childish enthusiasm. "And the townsfolk have missed seeing you!"

"Heh… yea," he laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I was talking about Apollo and Pearls, but it's great to see the town, too. I know it's growing, but it somehow still seems smaller every time I visit."

"Oh, you get used to that," laughed Maya. "Trust me, being the leader of the village and all, I know every nook and cranny of this place like the back of my hand."

"Uh-huh," Phoenix replied, seeming somewhat distracted. The spirit medium frowned.

"You've got your thinking face on, Nick. Is something wrong? You'd better not be thinking about work while you're visiting on vacation," she pouted.

"Nothing's wrong," he laughed, trying to ease his companion's nerves. She was very difficult when she got pouty. "I was just… thinking. That's all."

"Thinking about what?" asked Maya cheerfully. Her eyes lit up. "Ooh, is it mischief? Can I join? You'd better not be planning a prank without me."

"No, no, nothing like that— I'm just wondering something." He glanced ahead at Apollo and Pearl, who were deep in conversation, and slowed his pace to fall behind them even further. Maya caught onto the tone of secrecy and raised her eyebrows in excitement.

"Oooh, what are you wondering?" she whispered. "And why are we slowing down?"

"I just—" He paused. "Those two have been spending an awful lot of time together, haven't they?"

Maya's grin slowly faded as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Yea… why?"

"And they laugh a lot when they're around each other."

"Uh-huh."

"And they seem awfully suspicious whenever we walk in on them. Like, if it's just the two of them, and then one of us comes into the room, they immediately stop talking and start blushing and stammering like witnesses who've just been caught lying."

Maya stopped walking completely and turned to face the man beside her. "Nick, where are you going with this?" she asked, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in expectancy.

"W-well…" He put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "You don't think there could be something going on we don't know about, do you? Like… maybe they're dating?"

"WHAT?!" Maya yelped, attracting the attention of the possible-couple in question.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Fey?" Apollo called behind him, worriedly.

"We can slow down, if you want us to!" Pearl added anxiously.

"No, no, you're good!" she covered quickly. "Nick here just thinks that the second season of _The Steel Samurai_ is better than the first, that's all!" Then, turning back to her walking partner, she asked in a hushed whisper, "How can you possibly think Apollo and Pearls are dating?"

"Well, think about it!" he responded. "We went away to Texas and you asked Apollo to watch over Pearl while she trained, even though they barely knew each other. We came back, and suddenly they were acting like they were best friends! Remember how they kept whispering to each other over dinner and making jokes we didn't get?"

"That doesn't prove anything," huffed Maya.

"Okay, but you have to admit, the blushing is pretty suspicious," he pointed out.

"Apollo doesn't blush, and Pearl just looks that way 'cuz she's pretty," Maya insisted.

"He does too blush. Here, watch this," the lawyer said. He sped up his pace as quietly as he could so the others couldn't hear him coming. They seemed deep in a debate of some sort.

"…I'm telling you, if I offered you a million dollars, right now…" Pearl was saying, but her voice suddenly faded as she seemed to notice Phoenix's presence.

"Nope, I'd be way too nervous. I'd never—" Apollo started, but his compatriot elbowed his shoulder. "Ow! Why—" He turned around and yelped in surprise upon accidentally bumping into Phoenix. A deep crimson blush rose to his cheeks.

"M-Mr. Wright! S-sorry, I didn't notice— um, do you need anything?" he asked. Pearl shot him a small, smug smile and he glared back, his blushing only getting worse.

"Ah, no," Phoenix said as casually as he could, realizing he should've come up with an excuse for interrupting the two before he'd done so. "I just wanted to make sure we have the dinner time right. Maya said we're dining at six, but I thought we weren't going out until seven."

Pearl shook her head. "It takes about an hour to get there, so we're _leaving_ at six. We should get to the city at seven."

"Ah, got it. Thanks," he said, and quickly dropped his pace. He could still hear Pearl giggling as Maya caught up with him.

"Did you see that?" he asked confidently. "Try and tell me that wasn't extremely suspicious."

"You can't just go with your first assumption, Nick!" Maya argued. "You know that. There could be a totally different explanation to what seems like a cut-and-dried case!"

"Yea, but name _one_ other possible reason for why they'd be behaving like they are!" Phoenix exclaimed.

"W-well… I can't think of anything yet," admitted the spirit medium, "but I will! Apollo and Pearls just don't make sense together."

"I think you're just protective of your little cousin," Phoenix argued, folding his arms and smirking.

"No I'm not! I think _you're_ just too eager for your son to get married so you can have grandkids, Mr. Old-guy Grandpa," Maya retorted, sticking her tongue out.

"What? That doesn't— Wait, Apollo isn't my son!" the lawyer exclaimed.

"I mean, he basically is," replied the black-haired girl, rolling her eyes. There was a lull in the conversation as Phoenix suddenly became very interested in fixing the broken zipper on his coat. Suddenly, there was a cry of alarm from up ahead.

"What's wrong?!" both older members of the party asked simultaneously.

"I forgot my watch is off! It's already 6:10!" Apollo called back, and he and Pearl made a hasty retreat to rejoin the other two.

"We'll continue this discussion later," Maya hissed to Phoenix, and turned around to lead the group back in the direction of the car. "I call shotgun!"

"Hey, no fair!" Apollo argued. "I called it earlier with Pearl, but you didn't hear me."

"I'll race you for it, then!" she offered, and immediately took off sprinting down the path.

"H-hey, wait! I'm not athletic!" he cried, but ran after her anyway, already panting trying to catch up.

Pearl and Phoenix laughed at their competitive counterparts, then turned to each other semi-awkwardly. Pearl bowed politely, then giggled at the motion.

"So… hi!"

Phoenix smiled.

"Hi."

—

(A/N: YAY IT'S FINISHED AND STUFF *cue end-of-trial confetti* XP I thought it would be cute to end on the only dynamics that aren't touched upon in the fic [Maya and Apollo + Phoenix and Pearl], since I'm all for cute family stuff ^_^ Also shipping. Because writing characters shipping each other is really fun. XD Hope everyone enjoyed this fic, although I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it since its followers are still pretty few in numbers. If anyone did enjoy the fic, reviews are appreciated!)

(Response A/N: YAAAY I'm so happy you liked it! XD Hope you enjoyed this little bonus chapter ;D And yea, SoJ was my first *game,* although my first exposure to the series [and thing that brought me over here] was… *ahem*… an 8-hour-long fanmade crossover of PW and My Little Pony called Turnabout Storm. I've watched it all the way through twice and will probably watch it a third time soon X'D I haven't played the original trilogy; I'm probably just going to watch playthroughs of it. I've seen the anime so I'm pretty sure I know most of the big spoilers, but it should still be fun XP I MIGHT get the games, we'll see, but I also need to play the other Professor Layton games… hnggg… XD) (Also, wow, that's 6 years! That's a long time! - I will certainly come to you if I have any questions XD) (Oh, and hey Red, when you get back to the USA and remake your account, shoot me a PM, will you? I'd like to chat more :3)


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